The Word Games

36 sports, 101 countries, 3000 athletes...all attempting to increase the visibility, legitimacy, and popularity of their sport by participating in the World Games. Which makes the error on the medals, a simple missing line, both hilariously and painfully ironic. Mike and I are now gold medal champions of the Word Games 2013. Everywhere we have been since Cali, people have congratulated us on our participation in Las Palabras Mundiales. Colombians are not without a sense of humor.

Metallurgy mistake aside, los Juegos Mundiales were absolutely incredible. Cali is a beautifully gritty city surrounded by mountains, and they put on their best show for the games. World Games posters, billboards, flags were draped over the city. Supporters, volunteers, athletes, and the largest single police force I have ever witnessed swelled the city of 2.5 million.

Too much happened in too little time to be able to properly emotionally process everything, so here are some general mental snapshots (photos coming soon):

• the team stayed together in a hostel the first night (positives: the opening ceremony, poolside hammocks, unheard of fruits, a new card game called Yaniv; negatives: Cree and Dylan had stuff taken from them, passport and money)
• safety first: we had a 3 man police detail with us at all times. They were all incredible people, good at their job, and good salsa dancers to boot!
• Salsa dancing the Friday before the tournament, inspiring a new pre-tourney ritual to loosen up my hips. Cali is "the Salsa capital of the world", and salsa music can be heard pretty much 24 hours a day any time you walk outside. One morning I got a 5:00 a.m. wake up call in our hotel by a salsa playing trumpeter down in the streets.
• The twinkling city wide view from our hotel rooftop at nights. We had our team meetings up there every night...definitely a special place.
• Being treated like a professional athlete: the stadium, chiropractors at the tips of your fingers, locker rooms, post game ice baths, press crew, and thousands of legitimate ultimate fans. 
• Hundreds of people singing Happy Birthday to me during the Great Britain game, then going on to win the finals. Best birthday ever.
• All the supportive emails, Facebook messages, Groupmes, and other correspondence from friends and teammates back home and around the world. It was a source of strength and positivity that I could draw on whenever I needed to calm down, focus, or try and gain some perspective in the midst of the craziness.
• Having our moms and my dad there in the stands, and watching my mom give an interview to a Colombian news network.
• The Japan game: I have an incredible respect for, and fear of, Japanese Ultimate. It was how games should be. Both teams fighting tooth and nail, making great plays, adjusting and countering to the others strategy. It felt closer than the final score reflected, and it reminded me why I love this sport.
• Watching Mike play out of his mind. A greatest in the end zone during the Japan game and a tip and layout catch in the end zone on the last day come to mind as my favorite plays.
• Being coached by Matty and Alex, two of the great minds of the game with two very different styles. I value their perspective on the game and am especially grateful for the things I learned regarding how to be a better player within the structure of a good team. 
• Speaking of...the team: we cuddled, danced with, aggressively and purposefully hugged, loved, and played for each other. It was incredibly powerful. I am continually amazed at how close the 20 of us became in such a short period of time together, but the necessity to build a supportive and successful team in 6 weekends bred a team chemistry that burned hot and fast.

The experience was life altering, and the only thing that prevented an immediate and catatonic post-tournament depression was the fact that we would get to delay the inevitable parting of ways for a few more days by traveling together in Colombia. Adventure!

COLOMBIA

It's funny how dreams take seed. I don't remember many things, but I remember being at the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung, Taiwan when the team manager announced that the 2013 World Games were to be held in Cali, Colombia. That was all it took for an emotionally laden nerve signal of hope to worm its way into my brain and settle like a dormant seed. Fast forward 3 years through two weddings (a super secret one, and a super fun public one), 3 years of teaching, a USAU National Championship, and summer adventures to Europe, Alaska, & India. Numerous times during this 3 years we spoke of wanting to teach abroad, and Colombia was always our go to pipe dream (mountains, beaches, and a country-wide competitive Ultimate program...what more could a person ask for?!). Suddenly, 2013 was upon us.

Mike came into tryouts fresh off a USAU National Championship and playing the best Ultimate of his life. I came into it injured and unsure if I was even going to tryout. We both flew to San Francisco over our Spring Break to the West Coast tryout. Once again one of the most rewarding experiences of the entire process was the tryout, a grueling 2 day affair involving full field 3 vs 3 and other torture games devised by Alex and Matty, our coaches.

Mike got the email saying he had made the team one morning in April before school. With a dose of chutzpah that still impresses me, he told me (with a huge smile on his face) to check my email. Immense excitement and workout extravaganza ensued.

In short, here is a breakdown of what the next few months involved:

• working out 5-7 days a week, sometimes two-a-days
• trying to avoid becoming crappy teachers 
• traveling to practices and tournaments all over the country (San Fran, Boston, Poultry Days in Ohio*, Raleigh, Denver)
• meeting our incredible USA teammates and bonding over AMA (it's a game called "Ask Me Anything")
• a near finger-losing brush with frost bite when Mike improperly iced his finger with a cold pack (see photo evidence below*)
• Mike traveling for free to Russia to coach a womens team*
• Showdown and Doublewide tryouts and practices on non-USA weekends
• summer break!! 
• a Natenberg family cruise to the Bahamas!*
• visiting Granny Bea and Aunt Faye in Arkansas 
• a few wonderful days in Austin

Team USA at Poultry Days. We lost to Canada by one after beating them on Saturday in pool play, so we're one and one. It will be an awesome re-match in Colombia! 

Mike's finger a few days after the frost bite scare. This happened the day we found out we both made the travel squad, so it was a tense few weeks while we waited to see if he would lose part of his finger. 

Another frost bite pic. Ewww. It remains to be seen if he'll ever grow that fingernail back since it popped off a few weeks later. 

Our teammate Chase Sparling-Beckley. It was such a blast to get to meet and play with him after hearing so many good things from Chelsea, my 2009 teammate and bud. 

Nicky, Ashlin, Russell, Rohre, Georgia, and me during a rainstorm at a practice in Denver. 

Mike, Martin, Katie, and Kostya in St. Petersburg for a coaching clinic.  

Baby Laila rockin' it on the Natenberg family cruise! 

It's been a whirlwind journey, but we've both worked super hard and are itching to get on that field and defend the USA title together. There are a few ways you can keep up with the action, including: 

Team USA blog: general team shenanigans and a link to the live streaming for all games (in Central time zone)

Team USA Twitter : @USAUltimateWG

WFDF site

USA Schedule: 

• July 28:
• 11:30 am - USA vs. Australia
• 7:10 pm - USA vs. Canada
• July 29: 
• 10:00 am - USA vs. Colombia 
• 4:10 pm -  USA vs. Japan
• July 30: 
• 11:30 am - USA vs. Great Britain
• 4:00 pm - bronze medal game
• 6:00 pm - gold medal game 

We're Back!

It was a great trip.  Amazing culture, tons of people, new foods, animals, and late-night bus misadventures.  We survived and look forward to another future trip to the northern part of the country. We will hike you Himalayas!

You can check out all of our photos from the trip, here.

-T&C